About the Series

Format Farm

This is an innovative series of exciting new Irish generated TV entertainment programme formats.

Partnering up with the biggest TV distributors in the world, RTE have commissioned this run of pilot programmes to entertain audiences at home, and also to be exported around the world, bringing jobs and revenue back to Ireland. The five pilots will include programmes fronted by Laura Whitmore ( The Hit) and Nora Casey (The Takeover).

The series responds to changes in the broader broadcasting environment and also changes in Irish viewers' tastes and habits. Both internationally and domestically, we are seeing the rise of formatted TV.

In Ireland, programmes like Dragons' Den, Secret Millionaire, The Apprentice, Don't Tell the Bride, Masterchef, The Voice, Take Me Out, and others have demonstrated the appetite that Irish audiences have for marquee international formats. At the same time, domestically generated programmes that have been designed and formatted in an entertaining and innovative way, have generated big audiences for us, and which also lend themselves to potentially being exported internationally. The Restaurant, Dirty Old Towns, ICA Bootcamp and Operation Transformation have shown the appeal of well produced formats which originate in this country.

And if you flick through the brochures of international distribution companies , you will see some recent Irish formats for sale internationally, such as Anonymous, Failte Towers, Celebrity Bainisteoir, and others.

With this series, we want to generate our own formats which can entertain Irish viewers, and which could potentially be exported around the world - bring revenue back to Ireland, and potentially create additional jobs in Ireland. The scheme has attracted some of the biggest names in international TV distribution - such as Sony, Warner Bros. International Television Production, FremantleMedia - and they have put their money where their mouth is, co-funding each of the pilots. The series has also attracted some of the most credible and talented independent Irish T V producers, and features some of the biggest names in Irish broadcasting, in both production and presenting roles.